Senior Manager, Family Office Services

BDO USA•New York, NY

About The Position

The Tax Senior Manager, Private Client & Family Office Services (PCS-FOS) acts as a leader within the PCS-FOS group. This position is tasked with assisting with building a robust PCS-FOS practice. The PCS-FOS Senior Manager is responsible for providing exceptional client service and supervising the work products of other professionals on the client relationship team; developing new business and working with the business development and marketing team as opportunities move through the pursuit process; mentoring and developing the interpersonal and technical skills of the other client relationship team members; and responsibly managing the PCS-FOS practice through mitigating risk and managing the financial performance of their respective client portfolio. Additionally, in this role, PCS-FOS Senior Manager is charged with applying knowledge to understand potential tax issues, and recognizing, communicating potential risks and potential changes in the tax policy and making top-level decisions regarding filing, preparation and resolution of questions from federal / state agencies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, focus in Accounting or Finance, preferred AND eight (8) or more years of experience performing general accounting transactions and functions, required; OR
Ten (10) or more years performing general accounting transactions and functions with some supervisory and consultative or business advisory experience without a degree, required
Four (4) or more years of supervisory experience, required
Consultative or business advisory experience, required
Proficient in the use of the Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, required
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of finance and accounting functions, technology for supporting these functions and how tax planning can differ by industry and business structure; knows what is required from a compliance perspective and what is considered a standard or best practice for the industry or business structure
Takes personal accountability for work products and accepts constructive feedback to guide future actions
Fully understands the finance and accounting functions generally performed by a business (e.g. sales, purchasing, A/R, etc.) and common best practices/processes for how they operate, as well as how they interact; understands other business imperatives/functions (e.g. data security, internal controls, etc.) and how they can affect the finance and accounting functions; uses this knowledge to analyze the current structure of a client and identify what services identify what services or processes may be inefficient or missing and where we can add value, as well as advise on best practices for their overall financial ecosystem
Presents well in one-on-one, small group, and large group settings; presents well to all levels of management, internally and with clients; projects confidence and expertise; communicates in a clear and concise manner that emphasizes key points; persuades others to their points of view; self-aware – knows when an approach is not working and can change course immediately
Strong analytical and research skills
GAAP and TAX knowledge, financial statement presentation, and report writing
Strong organizational skills especially the ability to meet project deadlines with a focus on details
Proven ability to lead a team in a deadline-driven environment and handle multiple projects simultaneously, while focusing on quality, customer satisfaction and service delivery
Direct and prioritize the team to successfully execute multiple tasks
Ability to act as the primary contact and provide an executive presence on engagements
Capable of effectively managing a team of professionals and contribute to the professional development of assigned personnel
Interacts effectively with people at all organizational levels of the firm, including the Business Development team; demonstrates the capability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal and client personnel
Ability to travel up to 25% of the time

Nice To Haves

MBA or other relevant advanced degree (Masters in Accountancy), preferred
Experience working with outsourced and/or delivery center operations, preferred
CPA certification, preferred
Experience utilizing industry standard accounting software and BDODrive platform software such as Intuit’s QuickBooks Online (QBO), Microsoft NAV and Bill.com, preferred
Prior experience utilizing industry recognized accounting research tools, preferred
SEI Archway and Qvinchi, preferred

Responsibilities

Manages the full-life cycle of all assigned engagements by providing technical expertise in all areas within the finance and accounting function
Understands the technology packages clients are using to support their accounting/finance functions
Identifies when a client is not using a technology package in a proper or efficient manner; learns new technology quickly, understands the essence of technologies, how they can be used, how they interact with other technologies and business functions, what the best methods/benefits are for using them, and applies these technologies to an engagement
Facilitates effective discovery meetings with clients; uses open ended questions to identify what their objectives are, what financial information they value for management/decision making and why, as well creating a map of their current internal finance and accounting structure; looks for root causes and does not take information at face value; understands the complexity that can lie behind data
Designs integrated solutions that respond to the specific situation; open to new ideas and solutions, and avoids “locking-in” to a single solution; knows BDO well enough internally to identify when services outside of PCS-FOS should be included and describes what these services achieve and how they operate
Outlines the solution in a concise document and vets it internally with their leaders and other BDO stakeholders
Accurately determines the cost of building a client solution
Calculates the benefit to a client in dollar terms of the solution, using the pricing process
Compares the differences between the perspectives, and if there is sufficient margin in between (given our confidence in our calculations) to have a profitable engagement, proposes a fixed fee based on current scope for review by leadership
Formulates recommendations to client leadership on technical accounting issues, financial accounting policies and procedures and financial management issues
Educates clients on how their finance and accounting needs will evolve as their business grows
Assists clients in identify next steps and persuades the client to value those unperceived needs
Identifies what needs are critical versus what are not; looks at the business of the client holistically
Periodically reviews solutions with their clients to determine if it is still the right solution for the current state of the business
Develops a compelling future vision for a client; communicates in such a way as to inspire clients to take the journey towards that positive future
Assertively manages conflict; uses negotiation techniques to drive difficult agreements between opposing parties/ideas and generally leaves parties satisfied with the result
Supports the client through business changes and helps to facilitate the change management process; is comfortable with ambiguity, knows when to create clarity (or when clarity is possible) versus when to make progress without full definition
Acts as a partner to clients, as part of their team
Diagnoses the relationships and political structure of clients and appropriately navigates these complexities
Quickly and accurately assesses people’s perspectives
Gathers and/or reviews information necessary from the client to execute on engagements; creates, develops and maintains strong business relationships with clients, both internal and external
Understands tax planning considerations/concepts for various business entities; comprehends the information presented on different tax return forms, analyzes this information to draw conclusions and have an intelligent conversation with clients – helping clients navigate business decisions and their potential financial and tax implications
Appropriately refers tax related matters to Core Tax and Specialty Tax Services
Supports PCS-FOS Leadership with business development strategies and service offerings targeted for various industries
Initiates building sales pipeline and closes new business
Ensures prospect and sales information is entered into CRM as appropriate
Refines designed solutions and work plans into a compelling proposal document that speaks the language of the client and identifies the value clients will be receiving
Evaluates clients for acceptance (e.g. general risk matters, regulations that affect our work, international business, background checks, etc.), and develops statements of work based on solutions they have proposed, with support from their leaders
Develops a strong understanding of the various industry groups and builds relationships with business development resources; has a deep awareness of the impact that different industries and service offerings have on the technical work and final deliverable
Actively participates in industry trade groups and networking events
Identifies new opportunities to cross sell to existing clients
Explains the Advisory service offerings, as well as the broader firm to a client, prospect, or contact
Gains an understanding of the BDO Alliance and BRN Network firms
Fosters a culture that embraces change and accountability
Ensures PCS-FOS Managers and Staff are trained to understand and perform analytics and forecasting at a level where they are capable of interpreting financial results, recognizing trends and gaining insights into business performance improvements
Provides training on all relevant software, processes and resources, as appropriate
Acts as Career Advisor to PCS-FOS Managers and Staff, as appropriate
Evaluates the performance of PCS-FOS Managers and Staff, and assists in developing goals and objectives to enhance professional development that aligns with the firm’s and PCS-FOS’s objectives
Drives recruiting efforts at all levels and assists with the on-boarding process
Serves as a resource for the team
Creates a work plan following best practices of project management (breaking down projects into phases and tasks, estimating time/budget, setting milestones, managing dependencies, and measuring and reviewing progress)
Bills engagements in a timely and effective manner, appropriate to the client’s situation and the state of the work
Contributes to economic management matters such as forecasting and monitoring/managing to key metrics
Aware of how their practice P&L is structured and can interpret common firm metrics (at a practice and an individual level)
Accurately scopes a new project and constructs a fee estimate/budget that considers all appropriate details, including, but not limited to: architecting, designing and planning/estimating a tailored client solution
Identifies resource requirements and developing transition plan and estimates appropriate
Oversees client satisfaction with quality of work products, assigned staff, and engagement performance
Reviews engagement economics for multiple clients to ensure continuous improvement in order to attain practice KPI's
Travels 25% of the time
Other duties as required
Identifies when research is needed
Clearly and concisely frames issues to be researched; and clearly and concisely reports the analysis
Identifies complex issues to be researched by engagement team and provides research methodology for efficient research process
Trains managers / staff on research skills and helps to appropriately frame tax issues for analysis
Involves firm specialists, as appropriate
Introduces and develops new or improved ideas to improve the position of clients, the Firm, or Firm personnel, e.g., by reducing taxes or expenses or providing non-tax benefits.
Researches and implements tax strategies, including experimentation with promising new strategies and ideas
Consistently makes suggestions as to how previous work products or approaches can be improved
May lead marketing campaigns, if applicable to role
Presents complex strategies to clients and prospective clients
Supervises associates, senior associates and managers on all projects
Reviews work prepared by associates, senior associates and managers and provide review comments
Trains associates, senior associates and managers how to use all current software tools
Acts as a Career Advisor to associates, senior associates and managers
Schedules and manages workload of associates, senior associates and managers
Provides verbal and written performance feedback to associates, senior associates and managers

Benefits

BDO is proud to be an ESOP company, reflecting a culture that puts people first, by sharing financially in our growth in value with our U.S. team.
The ESOP stands as a compelling addition to our comprehensive compensation and Total Rewards benefits offerings.
The annual allocation to the ESOP is fully funded by BDO through investments in company stock and grants employees the chance to grow their wealth over time as their shares vest and grow in value with the firm’s success, with no employee contributions.
BDO Total Rewards that encompass so much more than traditional “benefits.”

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